Guard Kenny Boynton and the Florida Gators face a big test in their game against fellow top 10 team Arizona. / Melina Vastola, USA TODAY Sports

by David Jones, USA TODAY Sports

by David Jones, USA TODAY Sports

Arizona and Florida are two teams that probably not a lot of people penciled into their choices for a Final Four berth in March.

Is either really that good?

It'll take a while to figure that one out. But when the Gators and Wildcats meet at 10 p.m. today in Tucson, both are in the top 10 in the national rankings and both are undefeated with 7-0 records. So it's a chance for some early answers.

Arizona coach Sean Miller calls it a game of 40 minutes of concentration. The eighth-ranked Wildcats, who lost 78-72 in overtime last year at Florida, are averaging 15 turnovers a game while the fifth-ranked Gators rank second nationally in scoring defense, allowing just over 48 points a game, and are forcing opponents to turn it over 17 times an outing.

"There are a lot of matchups that are difficult,'' Miller said of Florida. "They are a true team in every sense of the word. Although they have individually talented players at all five positions, to me when you put them all together they are a much better team than even their individual parts indicate.

"That's because they play so well together both offensively and also defensively. They change, they press, they play zone, they play man. But they do all of it well and they do it with great intensity and they force your team to take care of the ball. Turnovers against Florida lead to transition baskets and opportunities and that's really where they thrive.''

UF coach Billy Donovan sees his own challenges.

"I think definitely you always learn something from your team every game you're playing,'' he said. "No different from this one, obviously it's our second true road game, playing against a very, very talented and gifted team. A team that's got tremendous experience on the perimeter and a lot of very, very talented new, young guys. So I definitely think you find out a lot more about your team coming out of a road game, traveling across the country against a very, very good team.''

Donovan doesn't put a whole lot of thought towards rankings -- although this is the highest the Gators have been ranked since his back-to-back national title teams in 2006 and 2007.

"I think it's early right now. And I think because of the margin of victory in some of these games, it's probably we've gained some attention because of that,'' he said of being in the top five in the polls. "I'm not so sure, and I said this after several games, we're that many points better than the teams we've played against. But I think that when you do play Wisconsin, you play Marquette, Florida State, even Middle Tennessee State which was really well thought of coming into the year in terms of being picked to win their league, same thing with Savannah State, and UCF picked to finish second in Conference USA, I think when you see the margin of victory right now, immediately people start to give you attention based on the margin of victory."

"And I'm not so sure that has anything to do with going into this game, against Arizona. So for me right now, the attention is based on everything that we've done in the past, but we're still moving forward as a team. I still think we can get a lot better on both ends of the floor.''

Florida beat all those teams by at least 17 points and ranks third nationally with a scoring margin of plus-25.3 points an outing.

This Arizona club, says Donovan, is a different test than the one the Gators played last season.

"I think the big difference in their team from last year to this year is last year they played very, very small, they were an undersized team,'' he said.

This year's club starts 7-footer Kaleb Tarczewski (6.3 points, 6.7 rebounds) at center and 6-8 Brandon Ashley (9.3, 6.4) at forward, both freshmen. They will be matched up against older Gator players in juniors Patric Young (10.3, 7.9) and Will Yeguete (7.3, 7.4).

Both teams have huge offensive threats in the backcourt. Senior Kenny Boynton (14.4) is 10 points shy of becoming the fifth Gator to score 1,700 points in his career. Nick Johnson (13.6) and Mark Lyons (13.4) for an explosive guard tandem.

"I think our guys understand that Arizona is a terrific team, and I think a much, better team than they were last year and that team came in here and had every opportunity to win the game. We were able to pull away in overtime, but they are much, much better this year than they were a year ago. So I think our guys understand the challenge in front of them going out there,'' Donovan said.

As for the high rankings of both clubs, Donovan said he isn't sure the Gators warrant the top five spot.

"We haven't played enough games to warrant that. You ultimately find out where your ranking is and how well you fare at the end of the season,'' he said. "I've never really been a big believer of all the preseason hype, expectations and rankings. We've played seven basketball games, so for me to sit there and say that we're one of the five best teams in the country, I'm not so sure I agree with that. But I'm not so sure that at the end of the year, we can't be. But right now, to say with seven games that we are, I think I'd be hard pressed to say because we haven't played enough games.''

Forward Erik Murphy, one of four starters averaging double figures at 11.9 points an outing, said it's a good game to see where Florida stands right now but that's it.

"I think we're just trying to take it as another game. Obviously the media is going to blow it up. It's an important game, obviously, with two good teams. It's a test on the road, but we're just going to approach it as another game and try to come out and focus on what coach gives us as a game plan and try to do what he says,'' Murphy said.

As for his own thoughts on the ranking, Murphy said: "I think we're really good, but how good is still unknown.''

While it's not the end of the world if either team loses, guard Scottie Wilbekin said players are excited to face Arizona.

"I think we're excited to prove ourselves again. We just want to prove that we're a legit team, and we deserve to be in the top five,'' he said.